


Pie, Pragmatism, and a Little Powers Boothe

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Drama, F/M, Friendship, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-09
Updated: 2014-10-09
Packaged: 2018-02-20 11:16:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2426753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Overanalyzing the possible thoughts and feelings of strangers was easier than sliding her own under the microscope.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pie, Pragmatism, and a Little Powers Boothe

“Oh my God, I'm stuffed.” Emily grabbed her stomach, swaying.

 

“You were the one who insisted on two pieces of pie.” Hotch replied.He gently pushed her shoulder with his own.

 

“That crust was heavenly…I couldn’t help myself.I have a weakness for pastries and I hadn't had peach pie in too long to recall.Damn, I should've gotten something to go.”

 

“We can go back.”

 

“No.” Emily shook her head.“They will think I am some kind of pie addict.Everyone will laugh about it when they’re closing up tonight.”

 

“They're open 24 hours.”

 

Hotch took Emily to dinner at the Georgetown Diner.As hard as he tried, he could not stop thinking about it as a date.He went low key so he wouldn’t think of it that way.If he had told her to dress up and meet him at DC Coast, the implications would have been clear.A man takes a woman there for many reasons, the main one being to impress her.He would impress her, spend his money, and get laid.Hotch did not want Emily thinking that he was thinking about sex.There was enough ice cracking beneath his feet.

 

“That’s even worse.” Emily’s voice broke his train of thought.

 

“What's that?”

 

“Being open all night.Then they would never stop talking about the woman who scarfed down two slices of pie and actually came back for a to-go box.”

 

“It would be passed down from diner generation to diner generation until it became The Legend of the Pastry Monster.” Hotch replied.“Little kids would eat their vegetables out of fear of losing their dessert to her vengeance.”

 

“You're not even making sense.” Emily said laughing.

 

“Who cares?”

 

They were both laughing.She stepped off the curb as the light turned yellow.Hotch took hold of her hand, pulling her back.Washington, DC on a Saturday evening was not a good place to jaywalk.Standing there watching buses, cabs, and SUVs fly by, he slipped his fingers between hers.

 

“The Pastry Monster, huh?” she looked at him.

 

“Yes.Legends have a great way of being blown out of proportion.”

 

Emily nodded and walked with him across the street.She didn’t know where they were going; they both lived in that direction.The night was still young, and even though she overindulged in pie, Emily wouldn’t have minded a nightcap.

 

“What are you thinking about?” they asked in unison.They were laughing again and Hotch looked down at their joined hands.

 

“Do you want to get a drink?” he asked.

 

“I've been doing that a lot lately.” 

 

“Bars are a good place to people watch.”

 

“Tell me about it.” Emily smiled.“The closer it gets to closing time, the more adventurous the stories become.”

 

“It’s strange that all the years I've been a profiler I've never done that.”

 

“I'm sure you have.”

 

“Not like you do.”

 

“Its fun, isn’t it?”

 

Emily Prentiss people watched since she was a little girl.Long before profiling, she stood on the fringes and observed.Her father, her mother, foreign dignitaries, Soviet honchos, and random people in the marketplace.She would interpret their inner thoughts as they bought vegetables or whispered in corners during cocktail parties.She would express them aloud when her sister joined in, the thoughts getting more outrageous until they fell over giggling.Mostly she indulged in the game alone.Overanalyzing the possible thoughts and feelings of strangers was much easier than sliding her own under the microscope.

 

“Maybe some other time for that drink.” She said.

 

“We can watch a movie.I have a collection of wholesome family fare that Jack and I always enjoy.If Thomas the Tank Engine isn’t convincing enough, I have a few adult films that would hold your attention.”

 

“Adult films?” she raised an eyebrow.“What kind of girl do you think I am?”

 

“That’s not what I meant.” He grinned as they cut through the park.“I just bought _Frailty_.”

 

“I love _Frailty_.”

 

“I know.”

 

“How…?”

 

“You and Derek were talking about it on the plane home from Madison last week.I've never seen it so we can watch it together.There is a bottle of white wine chilling in the refrigerator and…”

 

“Movies and booze, that sounds familiar.”

 

The first time had been _The Pirates of Penzance_ the night Haley left him.Jack Daniels made for loose lips and few inhibitions.Emily put a quick stop to it and Hotch was very apologetic the next day.The second time it was _Strangers on a Train_ and Appletinis, though Emily blamed herself for that.Why did she really go to his place that night?She kissed him first that time; it left them feeling both unsure.If they spent another moment alone it would be naked and horizontal.Well, vertical with Hotch might be nice too.

 

Walking through the park now, they were both quiet.A light breeze came through the trees and it made Emily feel at ease.She kept stealing glances at Hotch but he looked straight ahead.Opening her mouth to speak, Emily stopped.She reformed her words but he beat her to it.

 

“I wanted to kiss you that night, Emily.I didn’t want to kiss somebody; I wanted to kiss you.Of course, that is not the reason I came over to your place but it happened just the same.Yes, I was drunk that first time.I'm sure that didn’t make it easy to distinguish between my feelings and the liquor.I was sober the second time, if you recall.What happened would not have happened if I had been with JJ, Garcia or any other woman I am friendly with.”

 

“You're at a confusing place right now, Aaron.”

 

“What's so confusing about it?” he asked.

 

“Hotch…”

 

“My wife left me.Say I it aloud, I already have.”

 

“What are you trying to prove?” Emily asked.

 

“Nothing.I can lie down on the floor and sob my eyes out or I can be pragmatic and fight to live another day.”

 

“You don't have to pretend it doesn’t hurt.”

 

“I didn’t think that I was.It does hurt, I worked hard at something and I failed.I don’t like failing.Sometimes I lie awake at night and think of ways I could have worked harder or made better decisions.None of it would’ve worked; it wasn’t my decision to make.”

 

“How do you know that?”

 

“Because Haley was asking me to be someone I could not be.I can compromise, I can wiggle, but I am who I am.Maybe she thought she could handle it but the pressure…no, it wasn’t her fault either.If I made the changes she wanted me to, I could have made her happy for a little while.I don’t think it would’ve lasted forever and losing who I am was a serious possibility.”

 

“You can't be sure of any of that.” Emily replied.

 

“I won't overanalyze it either.Right now, the most important thing to me is making sure that my son comes out of this unscathed.I need Jack to understand that the end of the marriage doesn’t mean the end of our relationship.”

 

“He knows how much you love him.”

 

Hotch nodded.They were so close to his apartment now.If he had to let go of her, this would be the only time to do it.

 

“If we substitute the white wine with coffee it might lead to less trouble.” He said.

 

“You think?”

 

Emily didn’t want to go either.What was happening between them confused her but she didn’t want it to end.He was her boss and she fought her silly crush on him since her first month in the BAU.Emily was afraid that the feelings in her heart and stomach would cause her to lose her head.Losing her head only led to suffering.

 

Hotch was still married and all of this could be over in a single breath.She could not bear him adding her to his list of regrets.He said he wanted to get to know her better.Emily didn’t doubt that he meant that.She also didn’t doubt he still longed for his wife.

 

“Isn't there a bakery around the corner from where you live?” she asked.

 

“It closes at four on Saturdays.”

 

“What kind of sense does that make?”

 

“You got me, Prentiss.”

 

“You got me too.I think watching _Frailty_ is a nice way to spend a Saturday night.A healthy dose of Powers Boothe is good for a girl.”

 

She squeezed his hand.They walked up the steps onto Hotch’s porch.As he dug into his jeans pocket for the keys, Emily kissed him.Usually horrified at public displays of affection, Hotch held her close and let the scent of her skin hypnotize him.

 

“What was that for?” he asked when she pulled away.

 

“We are here for coffee and a great film.Better to get the tension out of the way; leave it out here on the front porch.”

 

“You think that worked?” Hotch let them into the house.

 

Emily shrugged, wearing a pretty smile that only made her companion’s mind go in a direction they were both trying to avoid.She started it and Hotch planned to remind her when they were kissing again.He knew they would be kissing again.The tension was not on the porch; it was following them into the living room and settling in for a cozy night on the couch.

 

***

  



End file.
